God Multiplied the Enchiladas

Yes. God multiplied the enchiladas.

So my friend came over, and I knew she wasn't doing well. I didn't know details. I didn't ask. But when she entered my house, I knew that she was bringing baggage and was hurting. We sat at my kitchen table and drank cold water from jars. It was the fall, so she brought me apples.

And we talked.

I wanted to help, but if she didn't want to share, I didn't want to ask. But she opened up to me, and began telling me of her pain and her husband and her dreams and her uncertain future that was ahead of her.

And I stared. Wide-eyed. Mouth open. I didn't even know what to say. I hurt for her. I loved this girl. I loved her family. And she couldn't go home in the state she was in. She had to stay in my home and I needed to love on her.

So I blurted out the first thing that came to my mind.

"You have to stay for dinner. You can't leave. You're staying."

Knowing full well that I had one pan of enchiladas that a sweet friend had made for our family.

Now, this beautiful, pained woman has five children; two of them being growing, teenage boys. And I, myself, had five children and was pregnant with my sixth.

And I had one pan of enchiladas.

But I just knew she couldn't leave. She was going to stay for dinner, and I just knew that God was going to take care of everything.

I put the enchiladas in the oven and prayed. I put the beans and rice on the stove and prayed. I dumped the cheese in the bowl and prayed. We set the table and I prayed.

We got all ten children seated around our little table in the kitchen and filled their plates. And we filled our plates. And I set aside some for my husband who was on his way home.

Everyone ate to their belly's content. Everyone was satisfied. And slowly, slowly everyone got up from the table and went on to their own activities.

My friend and I chatted a bit longer, and then I got up to start cleaning up the aftermath of ten children eating dinner together. I looked into the pan of the enchiladas, and there was about one whole enchilada left. I gently scooped out the leftovers out of the pan with a spoon. I placed them into a plastic container, sealed the lid, and set them on the shelf in our refrigerator.

I remember being so excited, because I was quite certain that I just had just relived the miracle of the fish and the loaves of bread in the Bible!

Okay.... so I know it wasn't quite the same thing, but, on some level, it was the same thing for me. Had I thought with this human brain of mine, it wouldn't have made sense. If I had analyzed, it wouldn't have worked. I felt like God was saying, "Just trust me on this. I got it. I can do way bigger things than this. You know that one time when I created the world and everything? Yeah... just trust Me." And He is so faithful. Oh, so very faithful.